Musical Ear Syndrome
The Phantom Sounds Few People Talk About for Fear
of Being Thought Crazy
By: Neil G. Bauman, Ph.D.
© by Neil Bauman, 2008
Introduction
Welcome to our session “Musical Ear Syndrome—The Phantom Sounds Few
People Talk About for Fear of Being Thought Crazy.”
Marilyn (Note: all names in this paper have been changed to protect the
people involved.) woke with a start, her heart pounding. It was the middle
of the night. "I thought people were calling to me," she explained. "I
became truly frightened when I realized that I was deaf and should not be
able to hear any voices."
"My wife hears music that is not there," Harry writes. "The first song she
heard was Silent Night sung by a very good choir of mostly men. It came
in quite loud. A day later it was the Vienna Waltz over and over and over
again—so clear it was like being at a musical production."
Janet explained: “My mother-in-law confided in me about hearing music
loud and clear at various times of the day, but frequently when she goes to
bed. Two doctors now have basically ridiculed her and said they'd never
heard of such a thing. My mother-in-law is at the end of her rope. She is
even accusing her husband of trying to drive her crazy by playing this
music. As you can imagine, this is very difficult on their marriage.”
What do these people have in common? They all hear strange phantom sounds
that no one else hears. They are also hard of hearing. Nor are they alone. Thousands of
other hard of hearing people "hear" similar phantom sounds, yet they never tell a soul
because they are afraid of the dreaded "H" word. Hallucinations—the very word conjures
up visions of phantom voices, padded cells and people in white coats talking in hushed
tones. This is because almost everyone associates hearing voices with "going crazy" and
mental illness.
What Exactly Are Hallucinations?
Hallucinations are where your brain perceives that something is happening even
though your five senses have not received any stimulus. Hallucinations may be visual
(seeing), auditory (hearing), olfactory (smelling), gustatory (tasting) or tactile (feeling).
Although hallucinations may occur with any of the five senses, auditory
hallucinations are by far the most common kind of hallucination.
Not many people know this, but there are actually two kinds of auditory
hallucinations—what I call psychiatric auditory hallucinations, and non-psychiatric
auditory hallucinations.
Psychiatric Auditory Hallucinations
Psychiatric auditory hallucinations are a sign of mental illness—typically
schizophrenia. Here is an example of a psychiatric auditory hallucination. Elyssa wrote:
Lately I’ve been hearing voices. I don’t know where they come from but
they are loud and clear. Last week, for example, I was sitting in class
when this voice told me that the boy sitting behind me was planning to
attack me after school. I jumped out of my seat and began to scream
obscenities at him. He denied everything, of course, so I punched him in
the face and broke his nose.
You can readily see that this example is vastly different from the previous
auditory hallucination stories many hard of hearing people experience.
Non-Psychiatric Auditory Hallucinations
In contrast, non-psychiatric auditory hallucinations are auditory hallucinations
that happen to us “normal,” and mostly hard of hearing, people. These kinds of
hallucinations are not a sign of mental illness, but of something gone wrong in the
auditory circuits in our brains.
If you are hearing phantom sounds, how can you tell which kind of hallucinations
you are experiencing—psychiatric or non-psychiatric? Here are two "rules of thumb."
1. People who experience psychiatric auditory hallucinations generally hear
voices, whereas people who experience non-psychiatric auditory hallucinations mostly
hear music or singing, rather than just plain voices.
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2. People who experience psychiatric auditory hallucinations generally hear clear
and distinct voices. In addition, these voices almost always either talk to or about the
person, and may engage the person in conversation. Consequently, the content is of a
meaningful personal nature.
In contrast, people who experience non-psychiatric auditory hallucinations often
hear voices that sound vaguely like a radio broadcast or TV program playing in another
room. These phantom sounds do not contain information of a meaningful personal
nature. These voices neither talk to the person, or about the person, nor engage them in
conversation.
That’s all I’m going to say about psychiatric auditory hallucinations.
The Need for a New Name—The Fear Factor
Unfortunately, because there are psychiatric auditory hallucinations, the general
public immediately associates all auditory hallucinations with mental illness. For
example, if I say I hear non-psychiatric auditory hallucinations, typically you will zero in
on two words—“psychiatric” and “hallucinations”—and immediately think I am crazy.
Cheryl explained,
I was afraid I was going nuts. I never said one word to anyone about the
strange music I was hearing because I didn't want them to think I was
crazy.
Because of this fear factor, many people describe their auditory hallucinations in
terms such as “musical tinnitus” to avoid using the “H” word—"hallucinations." You see,
we don’t typically think of people with tinnitus as hallucinating or being nuts, do we?
Obviously, there is a real need for a new term to describe non-psychiatric auditory
hallucinations—a name that has no negative connotations associated with it whatsoever.
Since the vast majority of people who experience non-psychiatric auditory hallucinations
hear some sort of phantom music or singing, I have named this condition Musical Ear
Syndrome. Not only does it not have any negative connotations, it almost sounds like it
might be something good to have—like having an ear for music or having perfect pitch.
Notice, when I say, “I’ve got Musical Ear Syndrome,” the first thing that comes to
your mind is not that I’m nuts. You see, there is no “bad press” to start with. You are left
feeling neutral or even slightly positive towards this term, or you query with an open
mind, “Music Ear Syndrome—what’s that?”
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Since I coined the term Musical Ear Syndrome or MES for short, I have found
that people are far more willing to openly talk about the phantom sounds they “hear.”
Definition of Musical Ear Syndrome
What exactly is Musical Ear Syndrome? I define Musical Ear Syndrome as:
Hearing phantom sounds (auditory hallucinations) of a non-psychiatric
nature, often musical, but also including voices and other sounds,
commonly found in, but not limited to, elderly, hard of hearing people
with tinnitus who lack adequate sound stimulation.
Musical Ear Syndrome, as its name implies, is comprised of a number of
symptoms, which, when taken together, form a syndrome. Typically, but not always,
there is a constellation of five symptoms that seem to predispose people to hearing such
phantom sounds.
1.
Often the person is elderly.
2.
Generally, the person is hard of hearing.
3.
Often the person lacks adequate auditory stimulation.
4.
Almost always the person has pre-existing tinnitus.
5.
Often the person is either anxious, stressed and/or depressed.
A person does not have to exhibit all five symptoms in order to have Musical Ear
Syndrome. In fact, they may not even exhibit one of the above symptoms, but many
people with MES exhibit three or more of these symptoms. Whether a person exhibits
these 5 typical symptoms or not seems to depend on the exact cause of the phantom
sounds. We’ll get into that later.
Tinnitus vs. Musical Ear Syndrome Sounds
Once we throw out psychiatric auditory hallucinations, we are still left with two
basic kinds of phantoms sounds—tinnitus and Musical Ear Syndrome. Some people call
the MES sounds they hear musical tinnitus, but this isn’t really correct.
Technically, tinnitus sounds are single, simple (unmodulated) sounds such as
ringing, buzzing, hissing, roaring, clicking, humming, rushing, whooshing and kindred
sounds, whereas Musical Ear Syndrome sounds include multiple, complex (modulated)
sounds such as singing, music and voices.
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MES Phantom Sounds May be Clear or Vague
Sometimes the Musical Ear Syndrome sounds a person hears are crystal clear
(what the professionals call “formed” sounds) as Claudia explains,
I hear passages of what sound like Strauss waltzes, Russian symphonies
and Italian operas. I hear them distinctively enough to identify various
instruments, male or female choruses, and the occasional soloist.
However, many people with Musical Ear Syndrome hear more vague (what the
professionals call “unformed”) sounds, Dennis described his MES as:
some song that sounds for all the world like it belongs as a theme song for
PBS, but I can't place it.
A lady wrote:
I've never heard a tune that I could identify. It sounds more like an
orchestra warming up.
How Common Is Musical Ear Syndrome?
Because so few people admit to hearing phantom sounds, researchers, up to now,
consider Musical Ear Syndrome (under whatever name they call it) very rare. But that is
not true. Musical Ear Syndrome is much more common than anyone seems to realize, and
affects significant numbers of hard of hearing people.
For example, when I speak to groups of hard of hearing people such as I am doing
now, and after I’ve explained what Musical Ear Syndrome is, and that it is not a sign of
mental illness, I often ask how many of them have heard such phantom sounds. Since
they now feel "safe" with me, invariably 10% to 30% of the people present feel brave
enough to put up their hands. And that is just those willing to publicly admit they have
heard such phantom sounds. Of course, there are others who won’t even admit that much.
In addition, I have received hundreds and hundreds of emails and phone calls
from people regarding hearing such phantom sounds. This alone tells you how common it
really is.
Interestingly enough, typically more women than men report hearing such sounds.
As a result, researchers say it is much more common in women, but this is not true. In my
experience, MES does not favor either gender. It is just that more women than men are
willing to speak up and seek help. In fact, I receive many queries from the daughters of
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elderly men asking for help for their fathers. The men have MES, they just don’t seek
help like the women do.
Musical Ear Syndrome is Not New
Incidentally, Musical Ear Syndrome is not new. It has been around for a long
time. Only the name is new—not the phantom experiences. For example, composer
Robert Schumann heard phantom music towards the end of his life. At night, he heard
musical notes and believed that he heard an angelic choir singing to him. He also heard
the music of Beethoven and Schubert. He jotted down the music in February, 1854 and
called it the Theme (Woo, 1854). He said he was taking dictation from Schubert's ghost.
He had Musical Ear Syndrome.
Coming down more to the present, few people talk about hearing phantom sounds
unless they have a plausible, rational explanation for these sounds. For example, you’ve
all heard stories of people who supposedly picked up radio stations through their dental
fillings, haven’t you? My dad used to tell me such stories way back in the 1950s—that’s
about 60 years ago now. After doing some research on the subject, I’ve realized that a lot
of what people thought was their dental fillings picking up radio stations was in reality
Musical Ear Syndrome. Remember, many people with MES hear what sounds more or
less like radio or TV stations being heard from another room.
Joyce writes:
When I first started having MES in my 20s, I thought I was picking up
some sort of radio signals on my dental bridge! That was the only context
I had for the tones I was experiencing.
Gary explained:
My mother-in-law keeps hearing music/radio stations and other noises (in
both ears). She seems to have become a “walking antenna” since she had
most of her teeth crowned.
Over the years there have been many reports of radio broadcasts being received
through dental fillings. However, when I began researching it, I could not even find a
single proven case. It’s easy to prove or disprove. Just ask the person what they are
hearing, and tune across the radio band and see if you hear the same thing on any local
AM radio station. The person should be able to repeat back exactly the same things you
are hearing. That would be proof. If they can’t, they are not hearing radio stations—but
have Musical Ear Syndrome.
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People with Musical Ear Syndrome May Appear to Act Irrationally—Here’s Why
Musical Ear Syndrome gives rise to sometimes bizarre, and often what appears to
be irrational behavior. Don’t let that throw you. Unfortunately, because of their
apparently irrational behavior, too often, doctors and caregivers (which includes family
members) have quickly written such people off as being “nuts” and treat them as such,
when in reality, they are being fooled by their Musical Ear Syndrome.
Musical Ear Syndrome can completely fool people into believing that the
phantom sounds they hear are real for three prime reasons.
First, the sounds seem absolutely real. As far as you are concerned, you are
hearing them with your ears—so no way could they be phantom sounds. In fact one lady
emphatically told me “in no way is this a hallucination”, yet to me it was abundantly
clear from what she had already described that she really had Musical Ear Syndrome.
Second, often the sounds have directionality. They are not just “in your head”, but
you “know” they are coming from a certain location—the house next door, the apartment
below you (or above you), etc. Therefore, you have no reason to think they are not real
sounds. Again, you act based on their being real—not phantom sounds.
Third, these sounds are sometimes accompanied by tactile sensations—in other
words you can actually feel them. For example, you might “feel” the floor vibrating from
all the racket downstairs. Alice explained,
My father-in-law thinks the landlady [living downstairs] knows exactly
when he lays down to sleep—of course, that is when she turns the music
all the way up. He also believes she has a vibrating device or machine that
makes the floor vibrate.
Therefore, people with MES have what appears to be bizarre behavior, such as
“knocking on the landlady’s door at 3 A.M. telling her to turn the music down”.
However, if you put yourself in their places, you’ll quickly realize that they are behaving
sanely and rationally based on what their brains are telling them to be true. Let me give
you a couple of examples.
Doris wrote:
We have a neighbor in our condo that has been fairly deaf for many years.
He is about 80 now. In recent years, he is hearing music, which he
attributes to neighbors next door, who he feels are "against him" and play
music all night. No one else in the condo has ever heard such music. It is
quite quiet here at night. He has enlisted the help of paralegals and others,
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demanding that the "music" stop. Our condo board is beside itself, as his
threats become more aggressive. He is making everyone's life miserable.
This man hears “real” music and “knows” exactly where it is coming from—the
neighbor next door. So he does the rational thing and tries to get the Condo board to stop
it so he could get a good night’s sleep, and when they don’t enlists the help of a paralegal.
To everyone else, he is acting irrational, but because this music is so real, has direction,
and the people won’t stop being inconsiderate, he is taking legal action.
Here’s an example with a bit of a humorous side. Valerie wrote:
How well I remember the night I awoke to "hear" my teenage son
practicing his guitar at 3 a.m. After some time of laying in bed getting
madder and madder, I realized it wasn't him at all but my crazy ears!
Fortunately, younger people have an easier time making the connection that the
phantom sounds are not real, unlike many elderly people.
Here’s a couple examples of not only hearing sounds, but feeling them too.
Jennifer explains:
Late at night when I don’t have my hearing aids on, I am absolutely sure
that there are trucks and bulldozers working just outside my bedroom
window late at night when it is quiet. We are the only ones living on our
little country lane. There’s no traffic of any kind outside my bedroom
windows. I feel the vibrations too. I thought I was going off the deep end.
I have mentioned it to my husband and he’d shake his head slightly in
awe. To him, it was silent around us. He swears there are no noises at all.
Since our minds associate certain sensations with certain sounds, it automatically
adds them in—thus heightening the illusion that there is something real going on when
nothing is happening. In Jennifer’s case, you can’t have a bulldozer working without it
rumbling and shaking the ground (and her house) as it works, so she both “hears” and
“feels” it.
Feeling the floor vibrate when you hear phantom sounds is not as strange as you
might think. Jennifer isn’t the only person to have these tactile experiences. This happens
to me too. I’d swear that the furnace is vibrating badly or there is a big truck or bulldozer
right outside my house working away, or a train is rumbling past the house. When I check
it out, I find it was all in my head, just like in Jennifer’s case—but, boy is it ever “real.”
I think you now can see that what appears at first glance to be irrational thinking
and behavior, is rooted in the firm belief that these phantom sounds are real. Unless, or
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until, a person realizes that their brains are playing tricks on them, they will continue on
in their bizarre behavior.
Nine Causes of Musical Ear Syndrome
There are a number of things that can cause Musical Ear Syndrome. Here are a
nine of them.
1.
Hearing Loss
Hearing loss is a very commonly associated with Musical Ear Syndrome. This is
because with hearing loss, your brain no longer hears what it used to hear, and it
sometimes decides to make up for this lack with music of its own. Doctors call it sensory
deprivation.
Vicki wrote me:
My 66 year old mom lost almost all her hearing two months ago. The last
three days (this was written December 28th) she keeps hearing Silent Night
and Oh, Come All Ye Faithful over and over again. It gets so loud that she
can’t sleep. She has tried to make it go away but can’t. She says that it is
just beautiful singing with a full orchestra to boot, but would really like
some sleep.
Quite often these phantom sounds have a seasonal quality—thus people “hear”
Christmas carols during the winter season like the above lady. The songs also revolve
around patriotic themes. For example, in the USA, people with Musical Ear Syndrome
often hear The Star-Spangled Banner, while here in Canada they hear God Save the
Queen, aind in Australia they hear Waltzing Matilda.
2.
Drugs
Most people know that some “recreational” drugs such as Alcohol, Lysergic acid
diethylamide (LSD), Marijuana (Pot), Mescaline (Peyote), Methamphetamines (Meth)
and others can cause auditory hallucinations, but it never crosses the minds of most
people that some of the prescription drugs they are taking can also cause such phantom
sounds.
Wayne writes:
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I have auditory hallucinations that are quite vivid, and I sometimes think I
can understand the voices. I have been hard of hearing since childhood
and now wear two hearing aids. Lately my hearing has been getting worse.
For the past 7 months I have been changing medications to try to control
my blood pressure. My doctors finally found a combination that worked.
Since then, the music has become much more profound. I believe
Clonidine is the culprit because it also has caused vivid dreams,
nightmares and auditory hallucinations so real that I tried to manipulate
them just to have some fun.
Diana writes:
My father has a profound hearing loss that may be getting worse. He was
recently placed on Terazosin. Since starting the medication he hears
“music” even when his hearing aids are out.
3.
Anxiety/Stress/Worry
When we can’t hear well, we are often anxious because we think we are missing
important things. This has some “funny” scenarios.
Norma explained:
I experienced the telephone ringing every time I got in the shower. The
second I stepped into the shower I would hear the telephone ringing—very
clearly—but it wasn’t really ringing. I wrote it off as some kind of quirky
anxiety reflex of being afraid I couldn’t hear the phone in the shower.
4.
Depression
As is the case with tinnitus, Musical Ear Syndrome is much more common in
people with depression. When people are depressed they typically “turn inward”. Thus it
is not unusual for them to hear various MES sounds.
5.
Constant Background Noise
Sometimes, constant background noise blends in and begins to take on a musical
quality. Margaret tells about her mom:
My mom is hard of hearing. Recently on a trip with my dad she
commented to dad when they arrived at their hotel that she really enjoyed
the music on the plane. Dad said there was no music on the plane. On the
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return trip, mom started hearing the music again and told dad to listen. He
said, nope, no music. Mom told him to put on his hearing aids. He did.
Nope, no music. But mom continued to enjoy it until the plane landed.
This same thing happens to me either when I am flying or when I used to drive
my old jalopy with the windows open. I’d have the radio up loud playing beautiful music.
When I turned the radio off, often I could still hear the music for miles and miles. The
wind and road noise combined in my brain and took on a musical quality. I knew what
was happening, but it was very pleasant just the same.
6.
Cochlear Implant Surgery
Cochlear implant surgery can result in people having Musical Ear Syndrome until
they are activated. Here’s Jackie’s story:
I was afraid I was going nuts when I thought I was hearing things in my
head after the CI surgery. I remember on the morning after the surgery, I
was hearing what sounded like some music from a radio. I thought I still
had residual hearing and that the lady in the next bed had the radio going.
Turns out there wasn’t ever a radio in the room.
Colleen described her phantom music after her implant surgery as kind of
pleasant:
It sounded like someone was singing very softly to me. Maybe I died and
went to heaven?
7.
Brain Abnormalities
Auditory hallucinations can result from seizures such as temporal lobe epilepsy.
Musical hallucinations may be triggered by unruptured intracranial aneurysms, or may be
associated with dorsal pontine lesions.
For example, a 57 year old man had an abscess containing bacterial meningitis in
the dorsal pons which caused, among other things, auditory hallucinations.
His hallucinations, which he heard in his right ear, took the form of boys’
choirs singing folk songs. Interestingly enough, the patient only became
aware these were really auditory hallucinations after several hours. He
thought he was hearing a celebration in the schoolyard adjacent to the
hospital. He was fully alert and was aware of the imaginary character of
his perceptions. He was treated with antibiotics and his neurologic
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symptoms continued to improve. Five weeks after their onset, the musical
hallucinations stopped.
Lyme disease can also trigger musical hallucinations by inflaming parts of the
brain. Curing the disease sometimes cures the hallucinations as well. Here is an example:
A 70 year old woman who had been plagued with Lyme disease for close
to 10 years suddenly began hearing a melody playing on an organ—very
loud but not deafening. This was a song from her childhood, When You
and I were Young, Maggie. This song repeated itself for hours. In the
months to come, she heard merry-go-round music and Silent Night. For a
few weeks it was The Star-Spangled Banner.
The music often began when she lay down for a nap or when she drove
her car. In her case, the only way she could make it stop was to play the
radio.
When she tried a new antibiotic for her Lyme disease, the songs stopped.
8.
Position
Strangely enough, some people hear the phantom music when they are lying in a
particular position. Josephine wrote:
My doctor told me that my case was very particular and unusual because
the musical hallucinations were happening because of a specific position
of my head and body. This would always happen when I was going to bed.
Most of the time, just the movement of lying down on my bed would
trigger them and in a fraction of a second the music would appear, but
when I would try to stand up, or to sit up, or even to raise my head
slightly, the music would disappear.
The phantom music did not bother me at all because the music would stop
spontaneously just by my changing my position. I usually lie face down,
one arm folded under my head. This position seemed to be closely linked
to the phenomena. When I was fed up, I just had to lie face up and
everything was back to normal.
Carla wrote:
When I was a child I vividly remember hearing a distinct pianist
serenading me to sleep on many occasions. I would sit up in my bed,
listening intently, but as soon as I sat up the sound would disappear. Once
I returned to my previous position in bed, the music would continue.
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Much later as an adult she had again heard the phantom music. She explained,
I noticed that when I sat up the sound ceased, just like in my childhood.
9.
Fatigue
When we get over-tiredness we can hear all sorts of strange things. A good
night’s sleep solves these strange sounds. For example, Wanda wrote:
Since being overly fatigued due to taking an overnight job in addition to a
9 am-5 pm job my tinnitus has gone from a very mild ringing noise to a
severe engine motor noise. This has never happened to me before until I
took this overnight job. It seems to only occur when I am severely, and I
mean severely, overtired.
It is a very loud noise—something like a washing machine in my head. I
take my hearing aid off and it's there so I know I am not hearing an
airplane or something. It is a loud rumbling noise. Scared me half to
death!
Cindy writes:
My dad is undergoing a recent sudden hearing loss at 81. He is coping
with a lot of noise. One night he awakened to a roar so loud he thought a
car or train had run through the house.
I’ve had similar experiences when I am severely overtired too. I’d begin to hear a
roar that got louder and louder until I was sure at any moment a train was going to come
barreling though the wall!
Eight Steps to Controlling Musical Ear Syndrome
Now comes the important part—what can you do about Musical Ear Syndrome?
I get letters like this all the time. Maxine writes:
My mother is 92 and has a severe hearing loss in both ears. Recently she
began having auditory hallucinations of music at first and now it is just
repetitive nonsense words or phrases. We’ve been to a neurologist and
checked out ok.
I’m very concerned about her. She is getting very depressed about the
noises. She thinks she is going crazy. Can you help me?”
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There are a number of things people can do to help themselves manage their
phantom music so it has less of an impact on their lives.
1.
Seek Competent Medical Attention to Rule Out Brain Disorders & Other
Medical Conditions
There is a very small chance that a person may have a brain tumor or other brain
abnormality that is causing the Musical Ear Syndrome. It is good to be checked out by a
neurologist to be sure there are no physical brain problems. You may decide to have
MRIs, CT scans or EEGs.
If nothing is found and you are sane, then put into practice the following
recommendations.
2.
Learn About Musical Ear Syndrome
When you know what you are facing, it takes the anxiety away so you are better
able to cope with the situation. Often a surprising thing happens, the Musical Ear
Syndrome goes away on its own—or tends to fade more into the background.
Lucy explained:
My friend Ella is 84 years old. She has been hearing phantom music for
just one week. There are never any words and some of the melodies she
doesn’t know but some she does, like The Star Spangled Banner and
Silent Night. At first, she heard the music in the bathroom and thought it
was coming from the room next door but when she started hearing it in
every room she became aware that it was inside her head. When she is
busy or listening to something else or talking with people she doesn’t hear
the music.
Two weeks after I explained to Lucy what was going on, she wrote:
Ella is enormously relieved after getting your letter. Now she feels the
music has subsided to some extent and is frequently in the background.
Because she isn’t worried about it, it no longer really bothers her.
Thus, it is important to understand clearly what Musical Ear Syndrome is, and
realize you are not crazy. In addition, knowing that many others have similar experiences
is also reassuring. Often this is all it takes. You can learn more about Musical Ear
Syndrome in my book, Phantom Voices, Ethereal Music & Other Spooky Sounds at
http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/products/phantomvoicesbook.htm.
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3.
Convince Your Brain of the Falseness of Your Musical Ear Syndrome
When you know your brain is playing tricks on you, you can then work to
convince it that you know what it is doing and often get it to stop.
Remember, earlier, the lady hearing the phone ringing when she was in the
shower? Well, Randy, had similar experiences. He even came up with two good solutions
to separate the real from the phantom sounds. He writes:
I took my cordless phone into the bathroom whenever I showered. The
phantom phone stopped ringing. Second, I taught my dog to alert me
whenever the phone rang. Then I encouraged him to hang out in the
bathroom when I showered. When the ghost phone rang, he ignored it.
After a while, it stopped ringing.
Some people do very creative things to make sure they can’t hear these phantom
sounds. Bob writes:
My 87 year old mother in law thought she heard the TV playing even
though she could not see any picture. She had unplugged it—but she could
still “hear” it. So she “fixed” it. She cut the power cord.
The secret is to do whatever it takes to convince your brain of the falseness of
your MES sounds, and hopefully you can put an end to many of these phantom sounds, or
at least reduce their impact on you.
4.
Reduce Your Anxiety
Very often, just learning about Musical Ear Syndrome is enough to reduce your
anxiety over the strange sounds you are hearing. If your anxiety stems from other areas in
your life, you need to work on learning to relax and quit worrying so much. In turn, this
often lets your Musical Ear Syndrome fade into the background.
5.
Get Your Depression Under Control
If you are depressed, work on getting your depression under control. You may
find that as your depression lifts, your phantom sounds fade away at the same time.
6.
Rule Out Drugs
There are around 250 drugs that can cause Musical Ear Syndrome. You can see a
complete list of these drugs in the back of my Phantom Voices book.
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If any of the drugs you are taking are causing your hallucinations, have your
doctor switch you to another drug, or reduce the dose to try to eliminate the phantom
sounds.
7.
Enrich Your Environment With Sounds
Musical Ear Syndrome thrives when your brain doesn’t get adequate auditory
stimulation. This often happens if you have a hearing loss and consequently don’t hear
the common everyday environmental sounds that keep your auditory circuits “happy.” If
you have a significant hearing loss so that you have trouble hearing people, you may
withdraw from them and thus get even less auditory stimulation.
Often, you are older, and older people tend to live in quiet locations such as
retirement homes. Further compounding this may be the death of a spouse. Now you have
no one to talk to. With no one to talk to, you may not bother to wear your hearing aids—
and thus the silence is even more profound.
In this quiet environment, no wonder you experience Musical Ear Syndrome.
Furthermore, since you don’t have other sounds for your brain to listen to, you tend to
concentrate more on your Musical Ear Syndrome.
Thus, if you have Musical Ear Syndrome, one of the solutions should be obvious.
Surround yourself with real sounds. Turn on the radio, TV or stereo. Listen to talk shows
where you have to concentrate on the words rather than just listening to music. Invite a
friend over to chat. Give your brain something real to listen to all the time—then it can
quit producing its own phantom sounds. Also, if you are hard of hearing, wear your
hearing aids so you hear sounds all the time.
8.
Become Socially Active
As I just mentioned, many people with Musical Ear Syndrome live alone in quiet
settings. Often their spouse has died, and they now have little social interaction. The
solution is to become socially active again.
Becoming socially active does a number of things. First, it goes a long ways
towards keeping your mind from focusing on the phantom music. Second, your brain
now has real conversations to focus on. Third, increased socialization helps lift the
depression and sense of isolation you may be feeling that so often makes your Musical
Ear Syndrome worse.
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There you have it—several causes and a number of ways to overcome your
Musical Ear Syndrome. However, if you are hard of hearing and have Musical Ear
Syndrome, look on the bright side. Hearing phantom music isn't all bad. As Sheila says,
“I shall miss it if it ever fades away.” I mean, where else can you hear beautiful music
without wearing hearing aids, assistive devices, MP3 players, headphones or any other
paraphernalia?
Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Center for Hearing Loss Help
49 Piston Court
Stewartstown, PA 17363 USA
Phone: 717-993-8555
FAX: 717-993-6661
Email: neil@hearinglosshelp.com
Website: http://www.hearinglosshelp.com
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